Forensic sculpture

DEFINITION: Process in which sciences such as anthropology, osteology, and anatomy are combined with artistry to approximate, from human remains, parts of individuals in three-dimensional form.

SIGNIFICANCE: Forensic anthropologists are sometimes called upon to reconstruct facial features or other parts of human beings from decayed remains to aid in the identification of those individuals. This work can enable law-enforcement authorities to close cases and to return the remains to the families of the deceased.

When a forensic anthropologist examines unknown and decayed remains, the first questions that arise concern the age, sex, and race of the decedent. When remains are sufficient, age at time of death is easily approximated based on when bone growth stops and on joint and dental wear. For gender, the anthropologist looks for differences that tend to appear between the sexes. Because a woman is built to bear children, the bones of the female pelvis tend to flare out more widely from the spine than do those of the male pelvis; in addition, the foramen, the opening between the hip joints, tends to be larger in circumference in a woman than it is in a man. On the skull, the bony ridge of the forehead along the brow line (the supraorbital ridge) tends to be more pronounced in men than it is in women. These features vary widely among individuals, however; the anthropologist may need to rely at times on other clues, such as the clothing recovered with the remains.

Modern forensic sculpture has been used to recreate facial features for numerous investigations, putting a face on unidentified remains and helping to identify missing persons and solving numerous crimes. Forensic sculpture has also been used to put a face to historical figures from prehistoric times to the Roman era and Medieval period. For example, in 2014, researchers at the University in Liverpool in England recreated the face of St. Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra, in what is today Turkey. St. Nicholas is one of the earliest inspirations for the concept of our modern Santa Claus.

Determining race is less clear-cut than determining age or sex. Homo sapiens is a single species with a single, shared gene pool across all populations, and this makes it exceedingly difficult for forensic anthropologists to assess race from skeletal characteristics. Remains can be compared with reference populations—skeletal collections containing reliable antemortem information such as age, sex, and ancestry. Databases are available on collections of unknown casualties—the vast majority young men—from World War II and the Korean War. The Smithsonian Institution maintains a skeletal reference collection, and certain fetal samples have been collected, but reference collections on racially diverse populations are distinctly lacking. Unidentified decedents’ ancestries often remain unknown.

Kinds of Identification

The two types of identification established in are known as circumstantial identification and positive (or direct) identification. Circumstantial identification occurs when skeletal remains fit a particular biological profile. As many individuals may fit the same profile, this does not prove identity. Positive identification occurs when unique characteristics of an individual, such as medical or dental records, bite marks, or (deoxyribonucleic acid), among other traits, are positively matched with known samples. When other identification techniques have failed, forensic sculpture, also known as forensic facial reconstruction, offers the possibility of identification to law-enforcement investigators and to family members of the deceased.

The two main methods used for forensic both require possession of the decedent’s skull. (Although X-ray images are sometimes used when the skull is unavailable, this method is far from ideal, as certain cranial structures may be invisible or distorted in the images.) Two-dimensional methods employ handmade drawings or computer images; three-dimensional methods can also use computer-generated images, or they may involve sculpture.

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction

In general, the tissue that covers the human skull lies at predictable depths at various points; for example, more tissue is found in the cheek area than over the forehead. In the absence of tissue fragments, forensic anthropologists conducting facial reconstruction base both computer-generated images and sculptures on predicted tissue depths. These predicted depths are derived from information on people of average weight.

In the creation of a computer-generated facial reconstruction, photographs of the cranial remains are scanned, and facial planes are approximated at predicted depths on the bones. Facial features are added based on the resulting planes and the anthropologist’s informed guesswork; stock photographs of features may be used, particularly when the decedent’s race is known. If necessary, computer software can also age the image. When completed, the high-resolution image can be rotated, so that the computer-generated face can be viewed from different perspectives.

For forensic sculpture, a plaster cast is usually made from the decedent’s skull, and the facial reconstruction is built on the cast. Tissue-depth markers—each about the diameter and consistency of the eraser on the end of a pencil—of appropriate lengths are first glued to the cast. Then, using a special oiled clay that does not harden, the forensic anthropologist applies underlying musculature and a facial surface to the depths of the markers. Noses are difficult to re-create, because shapes vary and the cartilage that creates the shape of the nose is absent from decayed remains; the anthropologist must apply educated guesswork. Final touches are cosmetic; these include prosthetic eyes. If hair was recovered with the remains, a wig of appropriate color is added. can create a rather masklike but recognizable likeness of the decedent.

Bibliography

Clement, John G., and Murray K. Marks. Computer-Graphic Facial Reconstruction. New York: Academic Press, 2005.

Gill, George W., and Stanley Rhine. Skeletal Attribution of Race: Methods for Forensic Anthropology. Albuquerque: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, 2004.

Kissel, Thomas. “The Real Face of Santa Claus, or Saint Nicholas, Recreated.” Greek Reporter, 23 Dec. 2023, greekreporter.com/2023/12/23/real-face-santa-claus-saint-nicholas-recreated/. Accessed 14 Aug. 2024.

Taylor, Karen T. Forensic Art and Illustration. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2001.

Walton, Richard H. Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2006.

Wilkinson, Caroline. Forensic Facial Reconstruction. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.